The film is shot as a period biographical drama about the tense professional relationship between novelist Thomas Wolfe and editor Maxwell Perkins at Scribner's. It follows their early collaboration, the painful process of cutting down enormous manuscripts into publishable books, the rise of public recognition, and how ambition, ego, and exhaustion gradually erode trust and friendship.

Filming Locations:

Empire State Building, Manhattan

In the Movie

Scene where the city skyline is added via computer graphics to hint at New York for the viewer; it appears behind street and building shots filmed in the UK, completing the city image.

In Reality

The scene was filmed in Midtown Manhattan at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street; the Art Deco icon serves as a recognizable New York landmark; in this film it is shown through computer compositing rather than actual on-location filming.